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Low-level phototherapy to improve exercise capacity and muscle performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of pre-exercise low-level phototherapy (Light-Emitting Diode therapy [LEDtherapy] or Light Amplification by Stimulate Emission of Radiation therapy [LASERtherapy]) in increasing exercise capacity and muscle performance of people undergoing exercise when compared to placebo treatment. Randomized controlled trials and crossover studies were sought on CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, SciELO, PEDro and LILACS from its inception up to February 2015. References lists of included studies were sought for additional relevant research. Two authors independently extracted data on study design, treatment parameters, exercise capacity (number of repetitions, time to exhaustion, blood lactate concentration and lactate dehydrogenase activity) and muscle performance (torque, power and strength) using an structured table. Agreement should be reached by consensus or by a third reviewer. Sixteen studies involving 297 participants were included. Improvement of number of repetitions (mean difference [MD] [95 % confidence interval] = 3.51 repetitions [0.65–6.37]; P = 0.02), delay in time to exhaustion (MD = 4.01 s [2.10–5.91]; P < 0.0001), reduction in lactate levels (MD = 0.34 mmol/L [0.19–0.48]; P < 0.00001) and increased peak torque (MD = 21.51 Nm [10.01–33.01]; P < 0.00001) were observed when LASERtherapy was applied. LEDtherapy meta-analyses were performed with two studies and retrieved no between-group statistically significant difference in power, lactate levels or time to exhaustion. Although our results suggest that LASERtherapy is effective in improving skeletal muscle exercise capacity, the quality of the current evidence is limited.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Latin-American Institute of Life and Natural Sciences, Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana, 6731 Tancredo Neves Ave, 85869-150, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil

    Fernando Kenji Nampo

  2. Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Lagarto, Sergipe, Brazil

    Fernando Kenji Nampo

  3. School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia

    Vinícius Cavalheri

  4. Department of Physical Therapy, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná, Cascavel, Paraná, Brazil

    Francyelle dos Santos Soares

  5. Department of Histology, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

    Fernando Kenji Nampo & Solange de Paula Ramos

  6. Department of Physiology, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Sergipe, Brazil

    Enilton Aparecido Camargo

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  1. Fernando Kenji Nampo
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Correspondence to Fernando Kenji Nampo.

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EAC is beneficiary of Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico (CNPq) productivity grant. Remaining authors had no financial support for the submitted work.

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Nampo, F.K., Cavalheri, V., dos Santos Soares, F. et al. Low-level phototherapy to improve exercise capacity and muscle performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lasers Med Sci 31, 1957–1970 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-016-1977-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-016-1977-9

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